(a) During the initial intake and classification process, and in a private setting, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall ask each individual entering into the custody of the department to specify all of the following:
(1) The individual’s gender identity of female, male, or nonbinary.
(2) Whether the individual identifies as transgender, nonbinary, or intersex.
(3) The individual’s gender pronoun and honorific.
(b) A person incarcerated by the department may not be disciplined for refusing to answer, or for not disclosing complete information in response to, the questions pursuant to this section.
(c) At any time, a person under the jurisdiction of the department may inform designated facility staff of their gender identity, and designated facility staff shall promptly repeat the process of offering the individual an opportunity to specify the gender pronoun and honorific most appropriate for staff to use in reference to that individual, in accordance with subdivision (a).
(d) Staff, contractors, and volunteers of the department shall not consistently fail to use the gender pronoun and honorific an individual has specified in all verbal and written communications with or regarding the individual that involve use of a pronoun and honorific.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Gender pronoun” means a third-person singular personal pronoun, such as “he,” “she,” or “they.”
(2) “Honorific” means a form of respectful address typically combined with an individual’s surname.
(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 182, Sec. 3. (SB 132) Effective January 1, 2021.)